Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios-- If you ever meet a guy like Gavin... RUN!!

Bad Romance

Grace's doesn't have a home life like most of her friends.  Her mom and stepdad (aka "The Giant") mostly treat her like she's the maid and the babysitter.  They never consider her feelings or her well-being, and she's always happy to have a reason not to be there.

Then Gavin starts paying her attention.  He's the hot rockstar boy at school and WAY out of her league.  And he's so sweet.  He cares about her in a way no one ever has.

Things seem too good to be true-- and soon she finds out, they are.  Gavin doesn't like it when she talks to boys, he doesn't like that she works with her ex-boyfriend, and he wants to be with her ALL THE TIME.  Grace wants out, but Gavin is mentally unstable.  He's constantly telling her he'll kill himself if she leaves him-- and then there's that nagging part of her that believes he might be the only one who really loves her.

This is going to be a hard book for me to review.  Right off the bat, I want to tell you I LOVED THIS BOOK.  I've never read a YA book about a controlling, possessive boyfriend (portrayed in a negative way) who wasn't physically violent.  And holy shit-- this one portrayed that perfectly.

Gavin starts showing Grace attention and she can't believe her luck.  Here's this guy, who she's crushed on forever, and is totally out of her league, treating her like she's a princess.  He's making her feel so loved and needed-- and basically giving her everything she doesn't get from her home life.  She feels safe and important and cared about.

Then Gavin begins to get too attached.  He wants to be with her all the time, wants to know where she is and who she's with.  He wants to institute "rules" on what they can do and who they can hang out with.  She starts seeing that maybe Gavin isn't Mr. Perfect.  But by then it's too late.  By then Grace can't imagine her life without Gavin, and he's definitely not going to let her go.

I kind of felt like Ms. Demetrios was following me around in the early 2000's-- because it was around that time that I had my own Gavin.  He wasn't a rockstar, but he was like Gavin in every other way.  He never hit me, but he may as well have.  I still have the emotional scars and will snap if I perceive anyone trying to keep tabs on me.  I think a relationship like that stays with you for life.

I was on the blog tour for this book last week and I posted some RELATIONSHIP RED FLAGS-- signs that a relationship is headed for toxic territory, and more about my personal story.

I hope this gets in the hands of every girl/boy who has or had a Gavin.  I don't think I've ever read a book to so accurately depict what someone who is controlling is like.  And Grace didn't have family to help her, so if she could get out-- I think it will give hope to so many young people.

The only thing that I didn't exactly love was that there was an escalation of the abuse that crossed the line into something more physical-- and I was kind of hoping this book would just stay in the mental abuse category.  It almost felt like it was saying that she couldn't leave until something REALLY bad happened.  And I know that's not what the message was, but I wish it didn't mix that in there to muddy the waters.

OVERALL: Thank you Heather Demetrios!!  Thank you for writing a book about the guys like Gavin and relationships that are hard to get out of.  I think this book should be in every middle school and high school.  I feel like every teen/young adult should read it.


Date Published: 6/13/2017
How I got this book: Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for letting me read and honestly review this book.
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Add it to your To-Read List!!

My Rating: 5/5

Character: Grace
Book: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

• I love Jase and Samantha's relationship and think Grace could benefit from reading about a good relationship.  Also, there are both types of families shown in this book (dysfunctional and AWESOME), and I know Grace would love the Garretts.